Missouri commission to test Maidana, Alexander for steroids

UNDERCARD TO BE TESTED AS WELL

Lueckenhoff said the fighters on the undercard will also be tested, including WBO junior lightweight titleholder Adrien Broner (22-0, 18 KOs) and challenger Eloy Perez (23-0-2, 7 KOs).

"We do random testing here, so if there is a title fight, then we test. So Andrien Broner and Eloy Perez will be tested, and my inspectors will do that. I'm not going to pass that cost on to the promoters," said Lueckenhoff.

"And we will randomly test some others on the undercard. It's normal practice that my inspectors would take a urine sample before the weigh-in, and then, once the fight is over, they'll be escorted to the locker room."

MORE CONTROVERSY OVER THE FIGHT OFFICIALS

Maidana's camp also raised concerned about the officials for the bout, which will be refereed  by veteran Steve Smoger and judged by Glenn Feldman of Connecticut, Cesar Ramos of Puerto Rico and John Keane of England.

"The main thing is that the Maidana camp wanted neutral officials," said Lueckenhoff. "In other words, no Missouri officials. So I agreed. I don't have a problem. We'll use neutral officials."

Contursi said he worried about the judges for two reasons, one of them stemming from Alexander's disputed decision over Maidana's countryman, Lucas Matthysse, last June in Saint Charles, Mo.

"People in Argentina put a lot of pressure on us because of the judges after the Matthysse fight," said Contursi. "After the Matthysse fight, we didn't want to go in there and be treated unfairly."

The other issue raised was the fact that Keane is from England, the country with which Argentina battled in the Falkands War of 1982.

"We had a desceprancy over one of the judges because Keane is from England, and at this time, there's huge tension between England and Argentina because of the war, and 2012 marks the 30th anniversary," said Contursi.

"Other than that, I think that the Missouri Commission has appointed neutral officials. We didn't want any judges from Missouri or any of the neighboring states, and I think that the judges and the referee are all very experienced and that they're going to be fair."

One of the judges who was dismissed from use was Nelson Vazquez, of Puerto Rico, who had Amir Khan beating Lamont Peterson, 115-110, in Peterson's close split-decision victory over Khan in December.

"Alexander's camp protested Vazquez, and I understand their reasoning," said Lueckenhoff. "So I agreed that we would remove Nelson Vazquez."

Photos by Mark Buckner, Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions

Designs by Darryl Jones

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com